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Inspector Sloan #16
After Effects
In this mystery by CWA Diamond Dagger winner Catherine Aird, Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan investigates a case of medical malpractice that looks a bit too much like foul play
Muriel Ethel Galloway passed away at home, twitching and grasping at objects only she could see. Her family mourns, sad but unsurprised that an old woman suffering from heart disease should die suddenly. But when Mrs. Galloway’s son receives an anonymous call alerting him that his mother’s life was put in jeopardy by her doctors, he demands action from the Calleshire Police.
As world-weary detective C. D. Sloan learns, Mrs. Galloway’s passing was just one in a string of eerily similar deaths. Dozens of elderly patients suffering from heart disease have been “gently pushed” toward taking part in the Cardigan Protocol, a double-blind drug trial from the powerful pharmaceutical company Gilroy’s. Something, it seems, is very wrong. But what might have been a simple malpractice case morphs into something much more complex when the doctor in charge of the trials goes missing and the headquarters of Gilroy’s is burgled by animal rights activists. As Detective Sloan well knows, murder is never a simple matter.
Muriel Ethel Galloway passed away at home, twitching and grasping at objects only she could see. Her family mourns, sad but unsurprised that an old woman suffering from heart disease should die suddenly. But when Mrs. Galloway’s son receives an anonymous call alerting him that his mother’s life was put in jeopardy by her doctors, he demands action from the Calleshire Police.
As world-weary detective C. D. Sloan learns, Mrs. Galloway’s passing was just one in a string of eerily similar deaths. Dozens of elderly patients suffering from heart disease have been “gently pushed” toward taking part in the Cardigan Protocol, a double-blind drug trial from the powerful pharmaceutical company Gilroy’s. Something, it seems, is very wrong. But what might have been a simple malpractice case morphs into something much more complex when the doctor in charge of the trials goes missing and the headquarters of Gilroy’s is burgled by animal rights activists. As Detective Sloan well knows, murder is never a simple matter.
216 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 22, 1996
180 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Aird
68 books194 followers Kinn Hamilton McIntosh, known professionally as Catherine Aird, was an English novelist. She was the author of more than twenty crime fiction novels and several collections of short stories. Her witty, literate, and deftly plotted novels straddle the "cozy" and "police procedural" genres and are somewhat similar in flavour to those of Martha Grimes, Caroline Graham, M.C. Beaton, Margaret Yorke, and Pauline Bell. Aird was inducted into the prestigious Detection Club in 1981, and is a recipient of the 2015 Cartier Diamond Dagger award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
October 1, 2019
This particular Inspector Sloan story was just not all that good. Oh, it wasn't that I didn't get completely befuddled, or gripped at the climax. It was just that the first half or so of the book had such a disjointed feeling. The sentences, and especially, the dialogue felt fragmented and disorienting. I felt that I had to guess at half of what was being said, or rather not said.
Once that changed, I rather liked it. The setting was certainly unique and extremely complicated. It all starts out simply enough, with a sad, but rather predictable, death in a hospital. Then surprise after surprise makes us guess at every development. Is that suicide as simple as it appears? Which woman is more than she appears? What is big-pharma hiding? Could this all be an elaborate attempt to free a few monkeys? Why are people still dying?
There were a few curse words, both British and American. There was also some 'mild' profanity.
Once that changed, I rather liked it. The setting was certainly unique and extremely complicated. It all starts out simply enough, with a sad, but rather predictable, death in a hospital. Then surprise after surprise makes us guess at every development. Is that suicide as simple as it appears? Which woman is more than she appears? What is big-pharma hiding? Could this all be an elaborate attempt to free a few monkeys? Why are people still dying?
There were a few curse words, both British and American. There was also some 'mild' profanity.
January 17, 2026
A bit confusing with doctors and patients, drug tests and animal protection protests, and a future wedding that will leave a daughter out in the cold. Plenty of suspects everywhere. Sloan continues to interview and search for clues until he finally gets on the right track, which I never did.
Read
February 21, 2023DNF
June 15, 2015
An elderly woman dies in hospital of heart failure. The death isn't unexpected but she was part of a drugs trial and her son receives an anonymous call suggesting that maybe her death was a little premature. Sloan and Crosby are clutching at straws and not getting any sort of help with their investigations when the doctor overseeing the drugs trials is found dead in his car - an apparent suicide. But, the pathologist, Dr Dabbe believes he was murdered.
As more patients at local hospitals die unexpectedly, Sloan and Crosby are involved in a race against time to prevent further deaths of doctors and patients. This is a well plotted and intriguing mystery with plenty of suspects and victims and a nail biting finish. This is an enjoyable read with plenty of humour and some likeable characters. I recommend this series to anyone who likes crime novels which concentrate on who done it and why. The series can be read in any order.
As more patients at local hospitals die unexpectedly, Sloan and Crosby are involved in a race against time to prevent further deaths of doctors and patients. This is a well plotted and intriguing mystery with plenty of suspects and victims and a nail biting finish. This is an enjoyable read with plenty of humour and some likeable characters. I recommend this series to anyone who likes crime novels which concentrate on who done it and why. The series can be read in any order.
December 18, 2020
I tried hard to love this novel. I did enjoy the setting and the Inspector was okay. I felt like as a first time reader of the series, a bit more effort to add color and setting to the novel wouldn't have gone unnoticed. For me, this was very put-downable. I did in fact put it down, arguing with myself on whether I should finish it as I was bored with all the talking heads. I meandered on and didn't find anything outstanding. The bad drug tests, the secret report, the doctor with a conscience, the bad doctor with none, all culminated into a story that could have been much shorter with perhaps some action showing. But I haven't read any of the others in the series so perhaps it was just me.
May 28, 2023
Mrs. Gallagher's son is upset she's dead. But it's not the fact that her physician was young, female, not-English, or wearing jeans that spurs the police to investigate. It's the anonymous phone call saying she's dead as a result of a study that's happening.
That alone is worrying. So is the fact that her primary physician, Paul Meggy (sp?), the man in charge of the drug trial, is missing. And another one of his patients is dead.
This book is not fairly clued and might be a bit more meandering if you are trying to read it but was fun as a quick little audio book.
That alone is worrying. So is the fact that her primary physician, Paul Meggy (sp?), the man in charge of the drug trial, is missing. And another one of his patients is dead.
This book is not fairly clued and might be a bit more meandering if you are trying to read it but was fun as a quick little audio book.
June 7, 2022
This was fun! I really liked the characters and for a change the doctors all felt unique.
Mostly I feel like Aird is making an effort to engage with a more multiracial England. It is still seriously racist and problematic but Infeel like given time she would be pretty decent at writing a more multicultural set of characters.
I liked the mystery and the way Sloane made a point of resolving all the final bits and pieces at the end.
Mostly I feel like Aird is making an effort to engage with a more multiracial England. It is still seriously racist and problematic but Infeel like given time she would be pretty decent at writing a more multicultural set of characters.
I liked the mystery and the way Sloane made a point of resolving all the final bits and pieces at the end.
September 10, 2019
Bit confusing, since you are in a hospital setting for some part and then a variety of other places. But this is used the murderer’s advantage. You have to look at it all to know what to see.
A quick read, filled with all sorts of interesting characters and emotions.
Won’t describe the story there’s a blurb that does that well. Good luck.
A quick read, filled with all sorts of interesting characters and emotions.
Won’t describe the story there’s a blurb that does that well. Good luck.
December 16, 2019
I liked the concept of this book, but I just never got into it. I normally enjoy the Sloan and Crosby mysteries much more than this one. If you're starting out, pick another one in the series...this one just rambled, and while the writing was good it just wasn't as good as I'm used to with this author. I'm giving it 3.25 stars.
October 19, 2022
This didn't seem quite as good as earlier books in the series; some of the humor seemed to me to be lacking. I was also confused as to what exactly the mystery was for the majority of the book. Drug trials, animal activists, and a missing doctor come to the attention of the police, ruining Sloan's plans for the weekend.
May 30, 2023
I have thought before that Aird must not have a very high opinion of doctors and hospitals and it definitely shows here. I am relatively sure this is the highest body count I have ever read for an Aird mystery, but are they all murders? Some clever plotting here and I felt proud of myself for figuring it out just before Sloan.
January 2, 2018
A medical mystery - a patient dies, her family complains; but then the supervising doctor dies too, near the site of a second patient's death. Was the drug trail harmful to them? Was it something else entirely? Why was the doctor murdered? Did the patients really die of natural causes?
December 15, 2020
When I first started the book, I almost didn't continue. But then it got interesting with various goings on, some deaths and I enjoyed reading because I wanted to see how it turned out. There were 2 short stories at the end that I thought were good.
January 26, 2021
Mystery set in England, I had a difficult time understanding what was going on (I'm American). I think the reader must be familiar with British slang. I'm sure if the reader reads enough British books they would have no trouble with this! David N.
October 1, 2022
I do so enjoy Inspector Sloane - but I must make an effort to enter the books more often on Good Reads than I do. I remember I enjoyed a book but it is so long after I have finished it that I usually cannot remember what the book was about.
February 20, 2019
Again, fine prose and a good, twisty mystery. This one wrapped up rather quickly, so I felt breathless at the end. Also, there were no hints, so the perp was a surprise.
June 29, 2019
Topical.
July 30, 2019
Interesting and exciting story.
September 6, 2020
A pharmaceutical company is willing to pay high for doctors to test their new drugs on patients who are going to die anyway. The deaths of a few healthy participants are suitably camouflaged.
November 19, 2020
Great entry in this very clever, humorous mystery series. A surprise ending. Loved it
February 15, 2021
2 1/2 stars
February 22, 2021
Her books start slow for me so that I'm not sure I'll enjoy them, but somehow she always turns them around and makes them interesting. Creative mind, with good red herrings.
March 29, 2022
Love this series and the author's imagination. Always surprised as to the circumstances and the solution.
June 2, 2022
I will try more by this author but I think it takes a bit to get into the storyline.
July 27, 2022
Seriously though, who KNEW that many adverbs EXISTED?
May 30, 2025
Very good. Very clever. Prescient considering the way the covid injections were foisted on us.
Read
July 17, 2025A little convoluted. Hit especially close to home as I read most of this book at work in the hospital
February 1, 2018
In this medical police procedural, Detective Inspector Sloan investigates the death of an elderly woman who took part in a drug test. The death of an old woman suffering from heart disease is not surprising, but her son questions the care provided by the doctors and demands action from the Calleshire Police. They soon discover that this death was only one in a string of similar deaths of patients taking part in the Cardigan Protocol, a double-blind drug trial from the powerful pharmaceutical company Gilroy’s. What seems to be a simple malpractice case becomes more intense when the doctor in charge of the trials can't be found and Gilroy’s is under siege by animal rights activists. Another intelligent, well-plotted story. This one is perhaps a bit darker than some of the others, due to the subject matter.
September 25, 2016
I love to find a new author especially in a genre that I read frequently. My local public library offered “After Effects” by Catherine Aird as “a hidden gem,” which was all the marketing I needed to read this mystery set in rural England.
In this novel, Detective Inspector C.D. (Christopher Dennis to his family and “Seedy” to his friends and colleagues on the police force) Sloan, looking forward to a relaxing weekend, gets mired in the investigation of the deaths of an elderly hospital patient and an elderly farmer. Their deaths may or may not be connected to clinical trials of a drug from a local lab. Written in 1996, the ethics of clinical trials including animal experimentation and data integrity are imbedded in the plot and are as relevant as today. Perhaps the only difference is the lab in question seems small in comparison to the huge, impersonal, inaccessible pharmaceutical labs of today. The opportunity, hunger and greed for great wealth for a few stakeholders remain the same.
With chapter headings taken from Bernard Shaw’s 1913 “The Doctor’s Dilemma – A Tragedy,” Aird reveals her sense of humor while skillfully foreshadowing the action.” Doctors if no better than other men are certainly no worse.”…”What you want is comfort, reassurance, something to clutch at, be it but a straw. This the doctor brings you.”… “All that can be said for medical popularity is that until there is a practical alternative to blind trust in the doctor the truth about the doctor is so terrible that we dare not face it.” Adrian Gomm, an artist hired to brighten up the façade of the old hospital creates an allegorical mural including symbols and mythological references, to create further social criticism about the medical profession, which few recognize.
The hierarchy within hospitals and police forces is played with throughout the novel. Young doctors working under critical senior professionals, Sloan working under his politically incorrect supervisor, Superintendent Leeyes, Sloan attempting to train the reckless-driving Detective Constable Crosby, both professions seem to share many problems. “You can’t afford to have feelings in medicine,” states the pathologist to Sloan, and Sloan thinks the same thing applied to policing.
The plot thickens quickly with two doctors dying, and many suspect unhappy women may be responsible. Sloan is an effective investigator and despite Leeyes’ interference and Crosby’s bumbling, he solves the murders with his critical thinking and maintains his integrity. “It was a sad commentary on today’s civilization that policemen had to be wary of altruists…”
Doing a bit of online research, I discovered the first book in this series was published in 1966, and the last, the twenty-fourth in 2014. I am curious about the changes in Detective Sloan’s professional and personal life, or if the author strayed from her wry humor, smart dialogue, or inserting literary references into the investigation. I’ll be back, detective Sloan.
In this novel, Detective Inspector C.D. (Christopher Dennis to his family and “Seedy” to his friends and colleagues on the police force) Sloan, looking forward to a relaxing weekend, gets mired in the investigation of the deaths of an elderly hospital patient and an elderly farmer. Their deaths may or may not be connected to clinical trials of a drug from a local lab. Written in 1996, the ethics of clinical trials including animal experimentation and data integrity are imbedded in the plot and are as relevant as today. Perhaps the only difference is the lab in question seems small in comparison to the huge, impersonal, inaccessible pharmaceutical labs of today. The opportunity, hunger and greed for great wealth for a few stakeholders remain the same.
With chapter headings taken from Bernard Shaw’s 1913 “The Doctor’s Dilemma – A Tragedy,” Aird reveals her sense of humor while skillfully foreshadowing the action.” Doctors if no better than other men are certainly no worse.”…”What you want is comfort, reassurance, something to clutch at, be it but a straw. This the doctor brings you.”… “All that can be said for medical popularity is that until there is a practical alternative to blind trust in the doctor the truth about the doctor is so terrible that we dare not face it.” Adrian Gomm, an artist hired to brighten up the façade of the old hospital creates an allegorical mural including symbols and mythological references, to create further social criticism about the medical profession, which few recognize.
The hierarchy within hospitals and police forces is played with throughout the novel. Young doctors working under critical senior professionals, Sloan working under his politically incorrect supervisor, Superintendent Leeyes, Sloan attempting to train the reckless-driving Detective Constable Crosby, both professions seem to share many problems. “You can’t afford to have feelings in medicine,” states the pathologist to Sloan, and Sloan thinks the same thing applied to policing.
The plot thickens quickly with two doctors dying, and many suspect unhappy women may be responsible. Sloan is an effective investigator and despite Leeyes’ interference and Crosby’s bumbling, he solves the murders with his critical thinking and maintains his integrity. “It was a sad commentary on today’s civilization that policemen had to be wary of altruists…”
Doing a bit of online research, I discovered the first book in this series was published in 1966, and the last, the twenty-fourth in 2014. I am curious about the changes in Detective Sloan’s professional and personal life, or if the author strayed from her wry humor, smart dialogue, or inserting literary references into the investigation. I’ll be back, detective Sloan.
May 21, 2019
Catherine Aird's books are treasures of ironic humor. Detective Inspector Sloan works through this novella with Crosby at his side and his boss, Leeyes, nipping at his heels.
Catherine Aird's father was a physician and Catherine planned on the same. However, illness interfered with her plans and instead, Aird became a gifted author.
Catherine Aird's father was a physician and Catherine planned on the same. However, illness interfered with her plans and instead, Aird became a gifted author.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews